Mowing Along

I didn't do a bug walk per say today. I had two things I needed to do outside today, mow the lawn and do a bug walk, and I didn't get out there until almost 5 pm, and I felt like the one I should give priority to was mowing the lawn, which usually takes about an hour and a half. I knew that by the time I was done the backyard would be pretty dark just from the sun going down (and as it turned out, it got deeply overcast by then, so it was REALLY dark), so I figured that no bug walk was going to happen, and I would just have to try to find bugs as I mowed the lawn. It worked surprisingly well. Of course, it then took me over three hours to mow the lawn, but that wasn't just because of the bug distractions, it was because the lawn is really thick and lush from all the rain, and I adjusted the mower to its lowest cut setting, which made it harder to mow. But hey, I found lots of bugs today, and since I only found the ones near the areas I was mowing, and didn't go into the woods, I didn't see as many gypsy moth caterpillars, so it was a win all around (though I still did see a huge number of GMCs).

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 This is one of the slug-like caterpillars; the best I can come up with for an identification is that it is probably a hairstreak, and might be a banded hairstreak or a striped hairstreak.

 Leaf footed bugs.

 This pair is about a foot higher up the tree than the other pair, and there is another single one about a foot higher than this. I have never seen such a gathering of leaf footed bugs.

 Some kind of larva, possibly sawfly.

 Thorn mimic hopper

 Discarded exoskeleton, probably of a Hemiptera nymph of some kind

 Some kind of Hemiptera nymph

 I almost ran this moth over with the lawn mower. It was stupidly resistant to getting out of the way, and when I finally tried to pick it up and move it, it was strangely resistant to getting off my hand.

 Grape leaf roller moth

 Some kind of looper

 It looks like it has a parasite egg attached–the white thing next to its head.

 Click beetle

 Hemiptera nymph of some kind

 Beetle. I thought at first that maybe it was a firefly, but when I looked at it I couldn't see any indication of a light-up back end. I did sit around on the back porch at dusk hoping to see fireflies, because they usually start around this time, but I didn't see any.

 One noteworthy, but not bug-related point: Today is the first time in 3 years of doing this blog that every single picture loaded without problems (well, except for times when I only loaded one picture). Huzzah!

Arachnid Appreciation:
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This might be a wolf spider...

... and this might be, too. I can't tell what it has for prey there.

I can't tell what this spider has caught, either.